DVD question

[Surkitz]

as youve noticed, stores are now stocking the HD movies in small sections of the video departments. what im wondering is, will a standard dvd rom/rw drive play a HD DVD. I know about tv's with the component cables and all since we just had to go through all that, but it got me thinking...if i go and buy a hd disc, will it play in HD on my system with my drive. I have a good CRT monitor and im not sure if that has anything to do with it. or will i see benefits on a LCD only.

 

[Rick]

HD-DVD is not to DVD as HD-TV is to TV...

HD-DVDs are a new format, much like Blueray, and while most movies you find on HD-DVD discs will indeed be high-definition, there's no real coorelation between HD-TV and HD-DVD... a regular DVD can play HD-TV movies as well (providing the DVD player/rom supports HDTV) and a HD-DVD disc could very well play a standard DVD movie...

To answer your question, a standard DVD-ROM will not read a HD-DVD. You will need a special HD-DVD drive or player which also happen to be very expensive at the moment, unfortunately.

On many movie HD-DVDs though, you will find they are double-sided. If you flip over the to the 2nd side, it contains a 'standard' DVD version of the HD-DVD movie which will be playable in standard DVD players/ROMs. Whatever benefits the HD-DVD side of the disc bring though, will be lost.

 

[Surkitz]

right, my dvd player for my tv has the high def cable stuff, but i only have standard dvd discs. so i guess my hd tv is the limiting factor. basically ill have to buy an hd drive for my computer to play those hd discs. pfftt nevermind id rather wait til blue ray is more available and go that route

 

[Rick]

Actually, you may want to invest in a dual format player. BlueRay has an edge since the Playstation 3 doubles as a BlueRay player as well. However, it wouldn't surprise me if more HD-DVD stand-alone units have been sold than BlueRay players which might suggest more public interest...

 

[Didou]

Hum Rick, don't you mean Bluray ?

The only good thing I can see in this format war is the HD-DVDs that can play on regular DVD players (not in high definition of course), which allows you to have playable movies straight away & enjoy the extra features once you get an HD-DVD player.

I'm still not buying one though.

 

[Rick]

Hum Rick, don't you mean Bluray ?

Yeah, that's it.

 

[Surkitz]

yes, now we are getting to another point about these new formats. It seems to me that HD discs are ultimately going to be a waste. eventhough HD will let you play standard, id rather have the "bigger and better" from the get go, and invest in blue ray. besides isnt blue ray technically the better of the two anyway? arent the blue ray discs capable of holding more gigs than a standard disc? and isnt it in high def format to begin with? to me its going to go the furthest as far as technology goes for consumer products. HD just seems like the "to get you by" option.